


PokemonGo

by seri-kun (vanijane)



Series: Everything Red and Green [13]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blue - Pokemon Breeder/Cosplayer/Team Mystic, Friendship, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Green - Pokemon Trainer/YouTuber/Team Valor, Green is a dick, M/M, No Real Pokemon AU, Red - Pokemon Trainer/Team Instinct, They all play Pokemon games, broship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7545539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanijane/pseuds/seri-kun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Red was attending the local preschool. He was unusually quiet for a child and he didn't have many lasting friends. He wasn't very memorable to the others besides being creepily quiet until the class was asked to share what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was then that Red, clutching his Gameboy in his hands, announced his goal to become a Pokemon Master.</i><br/>
<br/>
PokemonGo has just been released and like any fan, Red begins his journey as a Pokemon Master (like what he's always dreamed about). Along the way, he meets Green, the thief and YouTuber who stole his pikachu; and Blue, Green's not-best-friend who breeds pokemon for a living. And little did he know it was the start of a beautiful friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before Go

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on a rush, so it's not beta'd.  
>    
>  Since it's set in a Real World AU where Pokemon don't exist and are only just games, the names for characters and places in the game are in Japanese. The English names of characters and places are people and places in the 'real world'. (Except Leaf. Leaf = game character; Blue = real person character; Professor Willow = Professor Willow).  
>    
>  I wrote this in five parts which I decided to separated as chapters here. But since I've finished writing all five parts, I'll be posting all chapters in one day.

Red was attending the local preschool. He was unusually quiet for a child and he didn't have many lasting friends. He wasn't very memorable to the others besides being creepily quiet until the class was asked to share what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was then that Red, clutching his Gameboy in his hands, announced his goal to become a Pokemon Master.  


Most of the other kids laughed, the teacher had a huge smile on her face and said that he was being very funny. Red didn't really understand but then his mother was ever loving and encouraged him, so he didn't really mind.  


The previous Christmas, his mother had bought him a Gameboy and a Pokemon game. He already knew about Pokemon by then from the episodes that aired during Saturday mornings, he loved the show but when he played the game, he found it a lot better than watching Satoshi and Pikachu running around with his friends and Team Rocket. His first pokemon was a pikachu and at the beginning, he hated how it kept ignoring him and it made facing the first gym really hard. But after capturing and training up his mankey, things started getting better and his pikachu did really well during the second gym. And Pikachu started to like him by then, too.  


He captured several pokemon in his journey, falling in love with each of them and training them to beat the rest of the Kanto gym leaders, the Elite Four and finally, his in-game rival, the Champion (whom he seriously grew to hate as kept playing the game). When he finished the game, he explorer and challenged the Elite Four again and again in hopes to level up his pokemon.  


Not long after his mother got him the other Pokemon games and a second-hand Gameboy so that he could transfer his pokemon into one game (he didn't have any friends in the neighbourhood to trade with and no one really seemed to be into pokemon as he was). He kept replaying the other games while keeping his prized pikachu and pokemon into one save file. Thankfully, when the save file screwed itself, it wasn't on the game that held all his pokemon (ever since then he treated his cartridges with utmost care, his mother was proud).  


Thanks to the games, he was _hooked_ to Pokemon. He never missed a single episode of the cartoon, he had his mother accompany him to watch the movies and to buy the tapes afterwards. He also began collecting Pokemon merchandise, buying every game the came out and when the Pokemon Trading Card Game was introduced, he built several decks for himself-- by then, he was going to a school that had several other kids who were playing the trading card game that he got to play with them, too. He did everything but attend events because they weren't ever held anywhere near his place and his mother drew the line at buying a ticket just so he could get a special event pokemon.  


He never let go of his dream to becoming a Pokemon Master, he still kept that manual on his bookshelf along with his other Pokemon books and notebooks. But it became harder to keep holding on to his dream, especially when he got older and he was still into Pokemon. People began to tease him about it ("dude, you're still into that? Seriously? Grow up, man!") and even the friends he made at school were no exception, they mostly just tolerated his "childishness". It certainly gave him a unique reason for teenage angst as he was so worried about never being able to become a Pokemon Master because he knew that pokemon didn't exist outside the consoles and he just wanted to more than anything to travel across the land searching for pokemon and befriending them and capturing them and just live a life where he could become a real trainer with real pokemon.  


When WiFi trading and battles arrived, Red finally had a new means to entertain himself away from his pokemon-related angst. It was close enough to being the real thing, he didn't need cables to trade or battle. He could join tournaments without buying a train or plane ticket. Oh there certainly were many losses along the way but it was fine because that's what being a true Pokemon Master was all about (" _Some trainers have no fear. To them this is just one more challenge. They follow their hearts. That is what sets them apart, and will make them Pokémon Masters._ "), defeat was part of the adventure as was victory.  


It wasn't until 2016, during the 20th year anniversary of the Pokemon franchise, that Red had cried when he saw the promotional video for Pokemon Go. It was in the middle of the night, he just finished spending time with his pokemon on poke-amie, when there was a notification on his computer. One of his friends from the forums had sent him a YouTube link through PM with the subject "OMA. DUDE U WUD NOT BELIV. CHECK THE VID OUT!!!!!".  


At first Red didn't understand then it sank in, what Pokemon Go was. He watched the video speechless but so filled with feelings and emotions until _oh Arceus_ the last scene at the Square where dozens, _hundreds_  of trainers (and they were trainers because what else could they be?) gathered with their phones, heads help up to the sky as they all took down the special event Mewtwo. The Pikachu that dealt the final blow before an intense quiet and the announcement that the trainers _won_ and they all cheered, and Red was unable to stop the tears from falling because _yes_ he could become a real trainer, after all.  


He re-watched the video several times that night and each time, he was filled with emotion and tears. He was so _hyped_ he couldn't sleep and when his mother saw him at breakfast the next morning with bags under his swollen eyes but with the most radiant expression he had ever wore, she already knew that something big was coming to the Pokemon World.  



	2. Pokemon Go

Red took a part-time job to save up, he was going to be a Pokemon Master but that was impossible if he didn't save up. There were Pokemon Go Starter Pack memes and though people made them for laughs, he knew there was truth behind it. So he had to save up for a new phone, a better phone that could handle the game (it was better to be safe than sorry), he needed a power bank that could at least re-charge his phone three times (there was no way he would be closing the app ever), he needed money for in-app purchases and finally (but only because this was the real world), he needed pepper spray and a pocketknife just in case there were real world Team Rockets.  


When Pokemon Go finally saw its release, Red couldn't extract himself from his room as he watched the gaming websites come up with article after article. It was like the internet exploded but it was to his great displeasure that Pokemon Go didn't release in his area yet. So he waited, reading articles and clenching his fist in envy as he watched Pokemon Go screenshots. But he didn't want to spoil himself too much and never opened any tips and tricks articles, he wanted to experience Pokemon Go as himself without the technicalities. A true Pokemon Master didn't follow a standard, they break away from standards and stood above everyone else.  


It took over a week until Pokemon Go was available to him but it was worth the wait. As the app was downloading on his new smart phone (fully charged and had no other app but Pokemon Shuffle and soon Pokemon Go), he pulled on mismatched socks (he couldn't care any less about fashion right now) and made sure to put all the necessary equipment in his backpack. He made sure to shove some Granola Bars inside in case he got hungry.  


He was standing in the middle of his room, backpack slung over his shoulder and look of pure unadulterated joy on his face, as he started the Pokemon Go app. He set his user name ("TrainerRed") and his avatar and had to keep calm while reading Professor Willow's introduction (but he was more tempted to skip through it). Then it appeared, three pokemon _in his house_. There was a bulbasaur, a squirtle and a charmander.  


Without hesitation, he tapped on the bulbasaur and nearly had a meltdown when he saw the image of bulbasaur on his desk. Breathing slight heavy and with shaky hands, he flicked the pokeball to the pokemon. It took a few more tries to get used to flicking but he got it, he got bulbasaur and he fell to his knees with the silliest grin ever. He read a few more words from Professor Willow before getting to his feet and running down the stairs.  


"Red, wait!" His mother called him as he made a dash towards the door. He really didn't want to stay home any longer, he had pokemon to catch but he also knew not to disobey his mother (she was after all, the woman who introduced him to the world of Pokemon). He turned to her, hoping he wasn't needed for chores because he couldn't do chores right now.  


She was smiling at him and holding out his water bottle (which official stainless steel Pokemon merchandise). "Please don't forget to drink your water, I don't want you getting dehydrated in the middle of your pokemon journey. And don't forget to eat, please. Also, please be home at a reasonable hour and watch where you're going. Don't trespass or cross the street without looking."  


Red offered her a shy smile, he was never good at expressing emotions in front of others even if it was his own mother, and accepted the water bottle to place it inside his backpack. "Thanks, Mom. I promise-- I'll call if anything happens."  


"All right," she said before pulling him into an embrace, "good luck out there, my Pokemon Master."  


Red returned the hug, feeling so alive and so full energy. He thanked his mother one more time before dashing out the front door, ready to start his long overdue Pokemon journey.  



	3. Rival Battle

Red caught several local pokemon in the two days that he'd wandered around the town. He'd never been an outdoors type of person before and always preferred his room which was why thanks to Pokemon Go, he found himself in places where he never even knew or ever been to. It was also great to find several other people wandering around aimlessly, their heads bent down to their phones like he was.  


Though he didn't approach anyone yet nor did anyone approach him and stayed long enough for a conversation more than greetings and comparing pokemons. But that was fine to Red, he was shy and still getting used to this new way of playing Pokemon. His first night out, he barely wanted to go home (there were so many pokemon to catch!) but his battery was dying and he used up all the juice on his power bank. His mother had prepared a large dinner and had him talk her through his first day as a Pokemon Master.  


On his second day, he started battling other trainers. It wasn't as epic or in-depth as it had been on the main series of games, but he didn't really care at that point. It was _awesome_  and he couldn't careless if he lost or not and had to get his pokemon healed. He was actually fulfilling his childhood dreams, the very same dreams he thought he would never get to live through. It was a very emotional experience and he didn't care if he walked around with a stupid grin, he was living the life he wanted.  


On the third day, before leaving to continue his Pokemon journey, he decided to check the forums for any updates. He remembered several others arranging to meet offline when Pokemon Go was released so that they could help each other out or do some battles. He wasn't really into offline meetings but he went to a couple, though they weren't large meetings and they often just stayed in a cafe playing TCG or battling and ordering a drink each. But what he saw under the new Pokemon Go topic nearly had him pulling his hair--Pikachu could've been his starting pokemon if he walked away from bulbasaur, squirtle and charmander.  


Not that he didn't love his bulbasaur, he loved all his pokemon but he felt he had a special connection to pikachu, especially since it had been his first pokemon ever. Feeling a bit annoyed at himself, he made a vow to find a pikachu later that day and capture it. He didn't care how long it would take, his mother would _surely_ understand. And so, after a rather large breakfast to keep him full until lunch, he resumed his journey with a purpose to capture a pikachu.  


He took his bike so he could cover more areas in his hunt for pikachu. There weren't any nearby his area so he figured they must've been further out. He wasn't fast on his feet but he was good on a bike. Though he was scouting on a bike, it still took a few hours to find that pikachu.  


Red found himself in a quiet neighbourhood with a park when his phone showed him that pikachu was nearby (the silhouette was unmistakably a pikachu). He quickly parked his bike and began to wander around on his feet. It was strange that there were barely any people around a park, since it seemed that most pokemon gathered around parks and so did trainers who wanted to catch them. Though he didn't dwell on it for too long as he got closer to the pikachu.  


When the pikachu appeared on the on-screen map, Red grinned to himself but before he could even tap it, it disappeared. He gasped and nearly snapped his neck when he looked up from his phone, shooting a mean look at whoever _stole_ his pikachu. And unsurprised, he found a brunette grinning to himself as he punched the air, clearly celebrating his catch.  


"Y-you thief!" Red yelled before he could think and approached the stranger.  


The brunette jerked at his tone and turned to look at him, for a moment looking baffled before the expression he wore morphed into a scowl as a response to the dark look Red was giving him. For a brief moment, Red was reminded of the first generation rival and he could just _hear_ this guy being a jerk and telling him to "smell ya later"--he stomped his foot, he was _not_ going to take abuse like that.  


"Who're you calling a thief?!" The brunette shot back, fists on his sides.  


"You, that's who!" Red replied heatedly. Had he been of sounder mind, he would've remembered he didn't have any experience in actual fighting. But he was in pokemon trance and physical violence didn't seem to register in his mind at that moment he picked a fight with this stranger. "That was my pikachu!"  


The stranger snorted and it sounded so infuriating that Red had this urge to punch him, but he didn't. "Dude, I don't know what _rock_ you've been living under but that's not how this works. It's a free for all world, you know? That pikachu didn't have your name on it. So beat it, loser."  


"How--" Red cut himself off, the rage blinding him. He really wasn't good with confrontations, he barely had any in his life, and on pure gut, he shoved his phone at the taller brunette to issue a challenge. "L-Let's battle!"  


For a moment, the brunette didn't say anything. Red was convinced this guy was a coward but then _oh no_  reality sunk into him at that moment and he realized what he'd just done. He yelled at this stranger, accused him of stealing a wild pikachu and he issues a battle challenge? _Oh Arceus_  he was going to get beaten up for sure--  


The brunette pushed Red's hand to the side, away from his face and smirked. There was a gleam on his eye, one that Red immediately recognized and made him stop breathing.  


"You're on, loser."  


Red inhaled deeply, suddenly gaining back all his nerve and steel.  


He could hear the generation one championship battle music as he met the stranger's eyes and he knew he wasn't the only one hearing the music, seeing the landscape around them change. Suddenly they weren't in the middle of a quiet neighbourhood park, they were deep in a forest standing a yard away from each other. The wind blew past them and Red _knew_ this was no ordinary stranger, he was unlike the trainers he'd faced before. This was a boss battle and Red felt the fire in his gut, the very same fire he had when he faced down the Champion from the second generation games and its remakes.  


The battle was long and intense. No, they weren't _just_ tapping on their phones. This was a _real battle_ , far more real than any of the WiFi battles Red has ever done.  The glares they shot at each other were filled with as much damage as their attacks and though they didn't utter a single word, they heard each other yell out their commands and attacks. They _saw_ each other beyond what others could see, they saw how the other moved with their pokemon, how they didn't just let their pokemon do all the fighting--no, they both fought _with_ their pokemon.  


And when their heated battle came to an abrupt end, suddenly the magic was gone and they were back in the quiet park with their phones on their hands, a warning on each screen saying that the server had crashed. Both Red and the stranger were quiet for moment, just staring down at their phones then at each other and the moment was broken and they burst out laughing.  


"Oh Arceus!" Red heard the stranger say through his laughter and looked up to see him straighten up, wiping his eye with a finger. "Shit, _man_ , that was just-- _god_. That was just fucking awesome!"  


Red grinned, brighter than he had ever to anyone and oh how he wanted to say that _yes_ it was the best thing he'd ever felt, but words were lost to him as he felt all this emotion. Whoever this guy was--  


"Green. Call me Green." A hand was shoved at him by the grinning brunette and without any hesitation, Red took in his hand and they shared a firm shake.  


"Red." He answered back and once again, they were laughing at how absurd and perfect this was.  


"Man, I knew it was a good idea to move here!" Green cheered after their handshake. The cocky smirk was back on his face but Red didn't want to punch it (as much) anymore.  


"You live in this neighbourhood?" Red found himself asking and was surprised by his own interest. He wasn't usually so engaged in a conversation with people he just met.  


Green shook his head, "nah, but I just moved with my sister to town a week ago. I just ended up here looking for 'mons...hmm, I don't _exactly_ know how I got here or where _here_ is." He frowned as he scratched his head then turned to Red, looking sheepish. "You don't suppose you know how to get back to Pallet, do you?"  


Red's eyes widened and nodded, "I-I live there, too!"  


"Really?" Green brightened up instantly, "damn, that's even better!"  


He laughed and slid his arm around Red's shoulders, giving him a light punch with his free hand. "Tell you what, kid. I'll keep this pikachu on reserve for you and we can trade it when they update that feature. I'll get your eevee--been searching for that one, no such luck."  


Red grinned at that. He knew he could always get his own pikachu (another one) but getting Green's pikachu felt right and he didn't even mind his personal space getting invaded. "Fine, we'll trade."  


"Awesome!"  


"--but I'm not a kid. I'm an adult."  


Green laughed and rolled his eyes, "you're scrawny for an adult. But fine, I won't call you kid. Anyway, know any good place to eat here? I ran out from breakfast."  


Red took out a Granola bar from his backpack with a shrug as he handed it to Green, "m'not familiar with the area, but there's a McDonald's a bit close from here."

"Lead the way, Red."


	4. Ship Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there's a bit of ship teasing here but it's not really that gay or teasing except from a YouTube comment on Green's video.

In the two weeks that Red had known Green, it felt like they'd known each other for a much long time. It turned out that Green lived only three houses down from Red's which made it easier for them to meet up in the mornings before heading out to catch pokemon. Green also kept joining them for breakfast, which Red's mother was delighted to welcome him (Red never brought friends over). After he claimed how his sister couldn't cook and his grandfather always ordered take-out, Red's mother also made a trip three houses down to bring them food. Though it didn't stop Green from eating dinner with them, too (Red's mother insisted).  


When Green had stepped into Red's room one morning (because Red was bad in the mornings), he freaked out over the large collection of Pokemon cards Red had and made him promise that they would play a few rounds after dinner. And he was begging to trade Red's EX Mega Blastoise for any card Red wanted him ("Dude, I've been searching for that! C'moooon!").  


It became almost routine where Green came by for breakfast, sometimes waking Red up, before they set out to enjoy their summer chasing pokemon. During lunch, when they weren't just grabbing a burger to eat while they walk, they would battle on their 3DS which was a lot more intense than battling on Go. Then they returned to Red's for dinner, where they would play a round or two of the TCG afterwards. Then Green returned to his own home with a couple plastic containers of food for his sister and grandfather (it turned out that Red's mother and Green's relatives hit off just as easily, too. They bonded over how pokemon-crazy their respective relative was.).  


They were both so alike and yet they were also different in their style. Where Red was usually about winging it and not giving much thought to his actions, Green was was very calculating and often checked stats and when Red slept over Green's during the weekend, he found charts and plans for each of Green's pokemon.  


"Pokemon is serious business, Red," Green told him, not looking up from his computer while Red made himself comfortable on the futon Green's sister brought up. "You know, it's like Shigeru."  


"Oh god," Red groaned into his pillow, he'd heard this speech too many times in the past few days. Green seemed to worship Shigeru like a hero, which Red honestly found to be strange perspective since Shigeru was _mean_  and Red couldn't get over that 'smell you later' even after Shigeru grew up and lost the attitude.  


"You know how Satoshi, in the manga, just did whatever he wanted to? That's you, _Team Instinct_."  


Red rolled his eyes, he was in Team Instinct while Green was part of Team Valor. There were memes all over the internet about the teams and Team Instinct was always getting the short end of the stick while Team Valor was torn between having a cult following and having a lot of haters. When Team Harmony/Team Lugia started trending on the internet yesterday, they spent the day earlier quoting the movies while Green recorded them on his camera.  


"You lost to _me_ , O proud member of Valor," Red teased and Green tossed a stuffed pokeball at him.  


"I demand a rematch _after_ I build the perfect team," Green said, turning back to his computed. "So, back to  Shigeru. He's all about proper training--I mean, he went to Tanba City to train under Shijima. And by the time you hit GSC-HGSS, he's a badass gym leader with the most balanced team. He totally makes Wataru look like a wimp."  


"Wataru  _is_ a wimp," Red agreed, they spent a whole lunch hour debating about Wataru's uses in the Sekiei League and compared him to the other regional champions. "But he's better than Carnet."  


Green made a sound of agreement, "Shigeru all the way."  


"You're obsessed."  


"And you're such a Satoshi. This is why we're rivals-- I bet the viewers are gonna love you, I'm calling the video, 'Rival Trainer Red'."  


Red groaned, feeling embarrassed as he remembered what happened earlier that day. It was really stupid, he'd seen the theory videos before but he didn't recognize Green was actually (the infamous) "Green Mother Fucking Oak" on YouTube. He did a lot of pokemon theory videos but he had a few speedrun videos and several WiFi battle videos. He also did vlogs which got more views from girls than players (Red saw the comments and rolled his eyes). Green brought out his camera that day to video their Pokemon Go progress for his channelsince he had a schedule to stick to ("Red, I can't disappoint my fanbase.").  


"Can't you just blur me out?"  


"Hell no, it's good exposure, kid."  


"You said you wouldn't call me that."  


"Dun' remember. Anyway, it's going to be awesome, Red! You're not only my rival, but you've got natural snark, my friend."  


While Green had been filming and Red had his head bent down to his phone, Green was prattling on about how moving was a good decision because he met a lot of friends. Then Red snorted and said that Green scared everyone away and Red was only with him because he couldn't read a map. Green chided him playfully for that and called him a grumpy snubull before talking about how they met. Red shoved him for that.  


True to his word, the following evening, exactly twenty-four hours after Green posted the new video on his channel, the comments section erupted with praise for Red. And the morning after that, Red held both his and Green's phones while Green recorded them with his camera and read through the top comments of the TrainerRed video.  


"Oh! Here's one from Blue!"  


"Blue?"  


"She's a friend, she's a breeder."  


"Oh, Team Mystic."  


"Sure, gang up on me, why don't you?" Green shoved him and Red shoved him back. "Anyway, Blue said, 'Is that guy the same TrainerRed from the last tournament? He had a pikachu, an espeon and a breloom. He slayed my Queenie!'"  


"Did you go against a trainer called BlueMoon who had a nidoqueen, wigglytuff and I dunno, I guess she brought her blastoise?"  


Red frowned in thought before he remembered the pokemon line-up, "oh yeah, huh. Who'd have thought. She was okay. It was a good thing I brought a breloom for that match. Her...Queenie was tough."  


"Damn, I should introduce you two. She lives in Viridian with her cousin--have you heard of Silver?"  


"Silver? Blue?" Red made a face at the camera, "do you have any friends with normal, non-coloured names? Arceus."  


Green laughed, "you're one to talk, TrainerRed. We didn't choose our names when we sprang out of the vagina!"  


Flushing at the sudden image of a tiny version of him shooting out between his mother's legs, Red shoved at him but halted mid-action, "a charmander!"  


"What?" Green exclaimed, nearly dropping the camera as he leaned over Red's shoulder. "Catch it nooow."  


Red rolled his eyes and did just that, on his phone.  


" _Red!_ "  


"Oh crap, I thought that was your phone."  


"Urgh." Green groaned and shook Red, "we'll trade once the update happens."  


"Charmander for the next bulbasaur you catch."  


"Deal." He grinned before returning to the comments, "oh, here's one from Seri19--she always leaves comments on my videos."  


"Stalker."  


"Oh my god, Red, you can't just call people stalkers. Seri, he's joking. His sense of humour is a piece of trubbish." Green made a show of slapping Red's shoulder but there wasn't any force behind it. "Anyway, Seri19 says--oh god, this is hilarious. She says, 'Red really reminds me of Satoshi! And everyone knows how much of a Shigeru you are, Green! Sweet baby celebi in a basket, you two look so perf together! I ship ShiShi so hard, you make my dreams come true! GRD FTW!'"  


"GRD?" Red snorted through the jitters in his stomach. They probably should find a place to eat soon, his stomach was acting funny. "That is dumb."  


Green made an exaggerated show of rolling his eyes for the camera, "okay, how's about this, oh so choosy rival of mine--a contest!"  


"A contest?"  


"For a ship name!"   


"You actually want a ship name?" Red gave him a funny look. He didn't see the need for a ship name, he wasn't even planning to keep featuring in Green's videos (but it seemed like he'd most likely be for the rest of the summer at this rate).  


"Pokemon Masters have ship names!" Green explained with a grin and a sparkle in his eyes. "NamelessShipping! It's game verse ShiShi--"  


"I know my ships, Green." Red scoffed.  


"--point is, we want to be Pokemon Masters, right? We gotta have ship names!"  


Red wanted to say no, he didn't want a ship name, that was embarrassing  _but_ Pokemon Masters did get ship names. There were a ton of ship names, and champions and masters got ship names. It was practically a requirement at this point, especially with the anime churning out new episodes every week and new characters appearing.  


"Fine," he conceded then looked to the camera, "but make it good, please."  


"There you have it, folks! A shipping name contest befit for Pokemon Masters!" He smiled at the camera, putting his arm around Red's shoulders and pulling him close. "Oh! I forgot to mention this guys, but Red and I, we've got one more thing in common--" Red couldn't stop his laughter. Whenever he remembered that old memory, he felt embarrassed but after knowing that Green was the same, it didn't bother him any more and instead, it just made him laugh (because it was really ridiculous). "--when we were in preschool, we were asked what we wanted to be in the future. We both said the same thing that we wanted to be Pokemon Masters. Everyone laughed at us and we had a brief stint of teenage angst for pokemon not being real. It's really stupid. It's like pokenerd sickness. I think it was then that my sister just gave up trying to put a stop to pokemon in my life. She said I was done for."  


"Mom said the same thing."  


"Soul mates, I tell you! Soul mates!" He joked, throwing his head back in exaggeration with a chuckle before turning back to the camera with his signature smile, "so! We should be grabbing lunch right about now and after that, we'll be claiming gyms and dropping lures in the area. But again, don't forget, the GreenMOFOak and TrainerRed shipping name contest befit of Pokemon Masters! The deadline is in a week and the person who's ship name has the most likes wins! And let's see--oh! The winner will get one 31IV luvdisc, not super trained. I'll post the stats at the end of the video! It's a free luvdisc bred by BlueMoonBreeder, so you know it's the real deal."  


"Red, say bye-bye."  


Red looked up with a deadpan expression and said, "bye-bye, Butterfree."  


"TOO SOON, DUDE! TOO SOON!"  



	5. More Friends

Red was introduced to Blue a few days later. She'd been messaging Green ever since the TrainerRed video, demanding that they all meet up and after giving up on ignoring her, Green finally relented. Then he began to rant about how Blue, whom he'd unfortunately known ever since high school, was the bossiest person in the world and how she used his YouTube fame to advertise her breeding skills. 

"There's no doubt she loves pokemon," Green told him, shrugging. Blue was supposed to meet them at the park but the both of them were running late, mostly because Green insisted she had to wait for them. "It's probably the only reason why I still keep in touch with her--and she _knows_ she drives me up the wall. So to spite me, she's spending the entire summer at Viridian 'cause it's close enough for her to annoy me."

"I like her already," Red teased, grinning. Though he was never particularly any good with actual human conversation before and he was still awkward with it even now, Green didn't seem to mind and he took in stride with sarcasm and playful jabs. It was a big confidence boost, really, since it really seemed like before Green, anything he said repelled people away or made them dislike him (not that they really liked him from the beginning).

"Of course you would, you're just ganging up on me," Green shoved. "But eh, I guess Blue's okay. She likes pokemon, and sure, there are a lot of girls who like pokemon nowadays but Blue's on a whole 'nother level. Though, I'm on the fence with her breeding shop, you can't deny her dedicated to pokemon."

Red nodded, he knew about breeding shops. In the main series games, pokemon breeding had become a complicated and tiresome procedure. Not many players had the time or dedication to breed, especially when there was statistics and random numbers involved but there were players who had a lot of time and dedication to breed. Some people put those top percentage 'mons on wonder trade (and Red had been to lucky to find some of those) for free, while there were the few who like Blue, who made a sort-of living out of it by selling the 'mons they bred or by taking requests for a price.

Though personally, Red hated breeding because it was tiresome and he hated math or thinking too much ("you are fuelled by pokemon instinct, I don't even, Red.") but he knew the benefits of breeding versus catching from the wild. He did some breeding, but they weren't perfect and he'd seen Blue's skill with her pokemon during the last tournament. Not only was she a good breeder, she also used it to her advantage for pokemon battles.

When they reached the park, it was still filled with people on Pokemon Go. It didn't help that it was summer and there were a lot of people with nothing to do, though Red was sure the crowd would be gone once the season was over and the hype would die down. Green suspected as much too, when the hype would die out, so would the other casual players, leaving only the serious-enough players on the scene. They were walking around looking for Blue but Red didn't know how she looked because Green forgot to show him a picture and merely told him that he'd know Blue when he'd see her.

After a few minutes of wandering around, they found a small group of people gathered around. What was strange with them was that they weren't on Pokemon Go, despite the several lures in the area. Instead they were taking pictures of a person cosplaying Leaf from the remake games. The cosplayer, though, wore a pair of white rimmed glasses that Leaf didn't possess but like with Green, Red _knew_ that this person must be Blue.

It didn't take long for the crowd to disperse, going back to play the game, and for Blue to spot them. Once she did, she immediately gave Green a hug before doing the same for Red, who had been surprised that she did. She gave Red a chocolate bar and made Green carry bag before hooking her arm around Red's and dragging him along with her while Green grumbled behind them.

"We've got to stick together, you know how valorians are," she snickered and they both heard Green yell something about the pride of Team Valor behind them. But she expertly ignored him and began to talk about their last match, "can I see your pokemon? I know you had type advantage, but I was ready for that and did everything to counter type advantage. How'd you do it?"

At the question, Red shrugged, "I just winged it. I didn't really...do anything?"

For a moment, Red watched Blue stare at him before bursting out in laughter. "Oh sweet celebi, you are such a Team Instinct! Green was _right_ , you're practically the Satoshi to his Shigeru! Well, I guess that makes me feel better--losing to you."

"Really?"

"Well, I'd rather lose to someone with pure instinct than someone who outsmarted me, you know?" Blue shrugged, "I mean, Green's the smart type of trainer. I swear, he has a calculator for brains--"

"I'm a genius, after all," Green interjected with an exaggerated hair flip. Red rolled his eyes and ignored him (Blue was starting to rub off on him).

"--and it's annoying how he's letting me breed his pokemon and still get to beat me. And then there's people like you, who shouldn't really exist in this boring dimension because you're made for training pokemon. You get me?"

For some reason, that was the most profound thing Red has ever heard and in the past few weeks he'd been trading a lot of profound pokemon banters with Green. He understood where Blue was coming from, and maybe it was a little conceited of him to think so (that he was made to be a pokemon trainer) but it really felt real and it was just cruel the world they lived in didn't have any real pokemon.

"Oh god, he's got that Twilight sparkle in his eyes," Green groaned, coming beside them and poked Red. "See? He's in pokemon heaven now."

Blue grunted, slapping Green on the shoulder, "as if you don't get the Twilight sparkle in your eyes! Honestly, you two are hopeless pokenerds. I would call it RealNerdShipping but it's pointless to win my own luvdisc."

They had lunch at a McDonalds, which had turned into a gym during the last update and currently, Green was its gym leader. They came back everyday for Green to win it back whenever someone beat it. Red was pretty sure there was some annoyed kid out there because Green was liked keeping the gyms he claimed.

"It's one of my other dreams--to own a gym like Shigeru," Green explained over lunch when he'd forgotten all about his burger because one of the teenagers from the other table beat his pidgeot and take control of his gym, now he was set to reclaiming his gym. "Honestly, when school's back, I'd probably want to request our place to be turned into a gym but I doubt gramps would appreciate that."

"Forget him, your sister would murder you and you know she'll get away with it, she keeps watching that show," Blue laughed before stealing some of Green's fries. She turned to Red and gestured for him to take some too, which he figured Green wouldn't even notice since he was busy taking back his gym.

Blue had taken out her 3DS and was showing Red the pokemon she owned. It was amazing to say the least--she even arranged her pokemon by national dex number (it was beyond perfect). Though most of her pokemon were up for sale, she also showed Red a few boxes she named 'Family' which were the pokemon she used and weren't up for sale. There was another folder called 'GMOFO Crap' which she explained were some of Green's pokemon he lent her for breeding (Blue rolled her eyes as she said, "he's the laziest breeder, ever.") while the rest were for giveaways for his YouTube channel. Red found the promised luvdisc which Blue was going to name after the winning ship before trading it out.

A few minutes later, a teenager from the other table exclaimed, "what the fuck? I lost my gym already?!"

Green, being the rather cheeky bastard that he was, replied cockily, "it wasn't your gym to begin with, loser!"

"See what I put up with?" Blue groaned, taking Green's burger to finish it and Red snickered as he nicked all of Green's fries.

From where he sat, Red could see the teenager and his friends jump at Green's response. They certainly didn't expect that and that was funny, Green was full of cheek and surprises, but then the teenager stomped over, glaring at Green and them.

Blue slapped a hand to her forehead and muttered, "not again..."

It was strangely familiar, Red realized, as the teenager stopped before Green pointing his phone at him. Huh, so there were more weird people like him out there. Who'd have thought? Green was being a right dick about it, though and sat on the chair like it was a throne he owned and he was regarding the teenager like a commoner beneath him.

Green scoffed and Red wasn't sure if the jitters in stomach were from fear or excitement because beside him, Blue was groaning but Red just knew Green was itching for a fight like a true member of Team Valor.

"Listen here, kid--I'm just a far better trainer than you are. So, run along, cry to your mommy or something and git. This is my gym and I'm damn well going to kick your sorry ass away from it."

To be fair, Green did claim it the moment it was announced that all McDonald establishments would become gyms. So it was kind-of his gym, all he had left to do was put up a sign that it was his (the McDonalds staff took it down the next day). But this kid was itching for a fight, mostly thanks to Green goading him into one.

Blue was just about to interject, the teenager's friends had come around to support him at this point, when the teenager saw their 3DS consoles on the table. Red quietly watched the teenager smirk and pointed at the consoles.

"If you're so hot, _old man_ \--" Green looked downright insulted the moment he heard it, "--why don't we have a full battle right here, right now? Unless you're full of hot air!"

"Oh god, kid," Blue groaned, pushing Green down when he was about to stand up, "that's really a bad idea--"

"Shut up, you harpy," one of the girls snapped at her and Red watched as something snapped inside of Blue. Now, this was bad, Red thought as Blue grabbed her Blastoise 3DS and glared at the girl.

"You know what?" Blue smiled but it was anything but friendly. "Why don't three of you fight the three of us? All full battles, you can even use your hacked 'mons if you think it'll give you any chance of winning."

Suddenly Red found himself part of this...street brawl of sorts. It sounded far more epic than it looked, really. The three of them were still seated on their table, food completely forgotten before them as they defended what Blue called their honour ("We've got to show these _babies_ what twenty years worth of experience means!") while the group of teenagers, the eight of them, took the empty table in front of theirs. To any passers-by, it seemed like they were just casually fiddling around with their games but for Red and his friends, they were in the WiFi arena, battle music playing loudly behind them as they faced down their opponents.

It wasn't a long battle for either of them, the teenager Red faced was good but he'd faced better opponents (there was Green and Blue, for example). It was a good match but Red could sense the inexperience in the boy and he suspected they only started playing during the sixth generation, and not before that (which was a pity, he thought). Blue finished next, laughing cruelly as the girl who'd insulted her glared at her. Shortly after, Green finished, exclaiming "fuck yeah" when he did while his opponent was pissed speechless at his defeat (Red suspected he was the best trainer of their group and probably in their school).

"Oh my god," one of the girls said once the battles were over. Her eyes were blown wide as she looked at Green and gasped, "wait--are you...are you Green Oak? As in, the YouTuber?"

"The one and only," Green smirked, flipping his air and the group of teenagers gasped, including the one that had just insulted Green.

"Th-Then that means BlueMoon...you're _the_ BlueMoonBreeder?" The girl who'd faced against Blue gasped, jumping to her feet. "Oh my god, I can't believe I called you a harpy. I am so sorry-- I'm such a big fan!"

"Shit, Dray," the one Red faced shook the one who insulted Green, "you just got beaten up by Green!"

One of the boys snickered as he turned to Green, "oh god, you're never gonna believe who this guy is--he's DragonPrinceM, he won--"

"--the bagon giveaway!" Green's eyes widened in recognition then he looked at the teen, who's eyes were wide and scared. "Oh my god, you're a dick in real life."

"Well, so are you!" Dray snapped, turning red and falling for Green's taunts.

"Wait-- so that salamence, that's the give away?" Blue jumped to her feet and went over to the teenagers, making them squeak. She sat beside Dray and placed an arm around his shoulder, "c'mon, show me! I bred that bagon using Green's salamence from the original games."

"Really?" Dray blinked at her, hands shaking as he pressed the buttons on his 3DS to show Blue the salamence.

Well, Red blinked, that was an unexpected turn of events. He never really realized just how popular his friends were, sure he'd heard of them in the pokemon forums and circles but he'd never thought they would be walking down the street and people would recognize them like celebrities. Suddenly, he felt like the main trainers in the main series games who didn't know they met the League Champions until they fought in the final battle.

"Oh, that's an interesting build for a salamence," Blue commented and called both Green and Red over to discuss about how Dray had raised the salamence.

The animosity from earlier was now replaced with a form of camaraderie, and they began exchanging notes--even Dray and Green got over their earlier argument. It seemed that the teenagers knew their pokemon almost as well as either Red, Green or Blue. They exchanged friend codes and Blue even showed them the luvdisc prize for the current shipping name contest on Green's channel (the girls were cooing over that). They took a group photo before going their separate ways and Green got their permission to post it on his next video (the kids were floored to be featured, even if it was only a photo).

The three of them resumed catching pokemon afterwards but not before Green checked to make sure he still owned the gym. Blue had to leave them early because she lived away from them and she claimed that he uncle would literally send a search party if she didn't come home before dark but she promised to chat with Red and see them both soon.

Once he was home and Green had left, Red wasn't surprised to find that Blue added him on Skype. They began chatting, mostly talking about how they forgot their rematch when Green was online and Blue moved them to a group chat so they could all talk freely.

  


**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** the rematch

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** we need to do it

**TRAINERRED:** now?

**GREENMOFOAK:** dudes record it

**GREENMOFOAK:** i'll upload it on YT

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** oma green

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** dont use us to gain u fame

**GREENMOFOAK:** ur not 1 to talk harpy

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** u turd

**TRAINERRED:** green its tru

**TRAINERRED:** uv been using me for views

**TRAINERRED:** and even had a contest

**GREENMOFOAK:** oma red srsly

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** red is my new bff

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** buzz off green u turd

**GREENMOFOAK:** i introduced u guys 2 each other wtf

**TRAINERRED:** and look how that turned out

**GREENMOFOAK:** okay just what

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** HAHAHAHAHA red ily have my babies

**GREENMOFOAK:** ew stay away from him u beast

**GREENMOFOAK:** i found him first

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** u stole his pikachu oma

**TRAINERRED:** u stole my pikachu turd

**GREENMOFOAK:** oh so is ho b4 bros now?

**GREENMOFOAK:** i misjudged u red :(

**TRAINERRED:** lol :D

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** OH SO IM A HO NOW

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** GREEN OAK I AM DISAPPOINTED IN U

**TRAINERRED:** lol :D

**GREENMOFOAK:** i hate u 2

**GREENMOFOAK:** just so u knw

**GREENMOFOOAK:** i'll still upload the video on YT tho

**TRAINERRED:** u so thirsty

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** thirsty 

**BLUEMOONBREEDER:** oma we are of one mind red hahahaha

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wanted to add a couple more chapters in Green's POV, where the NamelessShipping begins but I'll probably write that as a sequel for people who don't want to read NamelessShipping.


End file.
